In a shock result which rendered the previously vociferous Labour Twitterati silent last night, City Independent candidate Jackie Barnes won the Springfields and Trent Vale by-election.
The seat formerly held by Sarah Hill until her resignation from the cabinet & the city council was thought to be a safe Labour seat. Continue reading
Well we are in to the final week of campaigning for the much sought after seat of Springfields and Trent Vale, all the main parties have been up here pounding the streets over the past few days. Everything but the kitchen sink & PCC Candidate Joy Garner has been thrown at S&TV by Labour, even Council Leader ‘part time’ Pervez has been leafletting. Continue reading
I would like to make known my views on two vital issues affecting Stoke-on-Trent.
1 – It’s transparently clear to me that the hate-filled powers that be (the political establishment of London) are imposing a terrible programme of social change upon us. This change, the enforced multi-racialising of Stoke-on-Trent, has never been discussed on the public stage by the Lib/Lab/Con front organisations. This ‘population replacement’ policy has never been put to the people of this city for their consideration, never has this vile plan ever been promoted as part of an election campaign, it does not appear in any of the ‘establishment parties’ manifestos! I put it to the people of Stoke-on-Trent that this city is the subject of a diabolical plot to permanently change this city from being the proud, English industrial city that we know and love and into being a multi-culti dump where foreigners outnumber the indigenous Stokies!
Continue reading
Yesterday’s Sentinel contained a story about the proposed new Mosque at the top of Chaplin Road in Normacot and surprise surprise it has attracted well over a 100 comments.
Don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing wrong with the story at all, but the comments left on the website shows that this kind of issue always brings out the extremes in our society.
The mosque in question will be built to replace the existing mosque on the opposite side of the road, yet you would think that this building was just being planted on the Normacot landscape with no prior history.
This mosque, the land on which it will sit, plus additional land/buildings which will be turned into car parking, has been brought and paid for by members of the Normacot community. There is no council/government windfall that is funding this project, just the hard work and endeavours of the Asian community who want a place of worship that is fir for purpose.
The new building will replace an old derelict pottery that was, until it was demolished, an eyesore and blot on the landscape.
This new mosque will be an attractive property that will be landscaped, have arched windows and a domed roof with a minaret. In my opinion it will be a vast improvement on what was there previously.
Reading the comments left on the Sentinel website made me question the mentality of some people.
Here are just a few examples:
” I hope the councillors reject this preposterous idea of building a second mosque in the City!”
”Welcome to Great Britain….NOT”
”well it as not taken long for this to happen as it? when will you lot learn that the labour party is run buy asains so this will get the rubber stamp. should have voted BNP ?? how stupid you are! just wake up
”what a joke, another mosque at a cost of £1.5 million, where do they get the money from? this labour party is a load of bull who will grant permission for mosques but nothing else. we need more work places built or houses for BRITISH people, its not us being racist, its LABOUR”
”William Blake’s imortal song ” Jerusalem ” will have to be written to accommodate these mosques soon i fear :
‘Till we have built ISLAMABAD In England’s green and pleasant land’
”The people of Stoke only have themselves to blame for this. You got what you voted for and boy did you. Everyone of you had the chance to vote BNP in may and you didnt. If you had then you would of had BNP councellors on the council to reject it and most likely of had the plans scrapped. I have no simpathy for you cos you had the chance to have your say in may and you were silent. NO POINT SHOUTING NOW”
And this in a City that has just voted every last politician of a far right persuasion out of the council chamber.
The fact is that the Normacot community want a bigger building than the one that is there at the moment so they want to replace it ““ why is that such an issue.
Just three letters of objection were sent to the council raising the following concerns:
1. The existing mosque already creates nuisance which would be exacerbated by the proposed development.
2. The scheme would create traffic danger.
3. The building would be an eyesore.
4. There is no need for another mosque as there are others around the city
A letter of support was sent by the Member of Parliament for Stoke-on-Trent South Rob Flello stating that he supports the development of all faith and religious organisations in the area and considers that allowing them to develop new places of worship helps these groups thrive. He considers that the proposal will be a welcome addition to the wider community.
One concern I do have relates to parking. Friday’s can be a bit of a nightmare for motorists in the area and often cars are double parked or parked illegally around the site of the existing mosque.
The main highway issue is parking. The mosque is intended to serve the local community and as there are mosques in other parts of the city, a large proportion of worshipers are expected to bewithin walking distance. There is also a bus service passing the site.Notwithstanding this, parking remains an issue and it is evident that there is significant demand for on-street parking at the busiest times at the existing mosque. A total of 39 parking spaces is proposed in the current application, the majority of which would be on the northern part of the site. The outline scheme would have provided 53 spaces in an underground car park. Although on a parking space / floorspace ratio, the current provision would be more or less the same as before (because of the smaller size of building now proposed), the overall number of visitors is likely to be the same. If there are not enough spaces to satisfy the demand, congestion could occur as visitors try to enter the car park when full. It is therefore suggested that the applicants use a permit system so that those in most need of a parking space could be allocated one. This could be arranged through a travel plan which is included at condition 4..
In addition to the off-site arrangements it was considered appropriate in relation to the outline application for funding to be provided for the introduction of parking controls in the area should they prove to be necessary. This would be returned after three years if parking problems had not occurred. This was controlled through a S106 agreement. The same arrangement is considered appropriate in this instance. The outline permission was also conditional to traffic calming measures being provided within the vicinity of the mosque and again these should be provided.
The submitted travel plan is generally good including targets and measures to reduce single occupancy car trips to the site. The final details of this will need to be agreed by condition but subject to this, and the provisions referred to above, the development is considered to be acceptable in highway terms and is in accordance with policiesT1A and T18A.
The other issue is the myth about the call to prayer and how it will be heard all over the south of the city. Again the council planning office has built in restrictions to protect residents of any noise pollution.
The applicants have indicated that they would like to operate a call to prayer which would be announced through an internal PA system 5 minutes before the actual prayer meeting takes place. The previous permission was subject to a condition which limited the volume and times that prayer calls could take place and it is suggested that a similar condition be used, should the current application be approved.
Planning officers conclude their report with the recommendation that the proposal be approved.
That will not deter the dissenters of course and those who wish to turn the issue of worship into a political debate.
Rumours are circulating around the south of the city that the BNP have seized this issue and are set for a robust leaflet campaign. Internet forums are hinting that the English Defence League may use this issue to make a return visit to our city.
Finally, if like this contributor:
This protracted debate indicates what is increasingly wrong with this site. The irksome debate of how many dancing pinheads are involved in far right local politics is an unhealthy obsession with the author of the article. Surely it would be to the benefit of everyone that we concentrate on finding solutions to those seemingly intractable problems that drive the disillusionment with main stream politics such as unemployment, poverty, low wages and poor levels of attainment?
you are left wondering why I am sensitive about issues like this and the danger of the far right in the City of Stoke-on-Trent, just read this taken from today’s Stoke England First Website and then ask yourselves where the real danger comes from?
No sooner is the pisspoor excuse for an election over, than that bastard Pervez is at it again.The plans for a terrorist training camp in Normacot; oops, sorry, that should read plans for a new mosque in Normacot; are back on the table, and that tubby immigrant is driving forward his plans to colonise Stoke-on-Trent with his muzzie brethren by building mosques in every part of the city, making sure that that the vast majority of taxi services are muslim based- an unfair monopoly- that public swimming pools are closed so his mate Mo can rip off even more people with his sky high charges, and now with the re-appearance of that far left bum bandit Meredith, they will flood the city with even more immigrants, like the overspill from Birmingham currently turning the north of the city into a black enclave!
Take a look at the voluntary bodies handed £millions every year by the city council. Look at VAST, and who runs it, look at the Dudson centre and who runs it, listen to their bullshit about what an important service they perform for the city, then do like me and several colleagues did, and take a good close look at their finances.
Perfoming an important service for the city?
Bollocks, the majority of the money that goes through the doors of places like this is taken up in salaries and pension payments!
“ËœUnemployment, poverty, low wages and poor levels of attainment’ make for attitude like this do they? Somehow I think that it is a whole lot more to do with hatred.
I pose the following to the reader:
Does the danger to our city and the people who live here come from the building of a new mosque for the Muslim population of the south of the city?
Or from far right extremists who display a lack of tolerance, respect and attitudes like this?
I recently asked a senior figure in Stoke BNP if he thought his party was finished for good in our city. He looked me straight in the eye and replied: “I think we are Tone yes”.
He went on to explain that his party had self destructed and imploded in the past two years and he laid the blame firmly and squarely at the doorstep of BNP Leader Nick Griffin.
The story did not get better for the far right party as this activist said that the recent election campaign received no party funding what so ever.
I was told that the BNP would never come back from this low point and that all the fight had gone out of the membership. The party insider revealed that they had really struggled to attract any candidate of quality.
It had cost some candidates in the region of £750 to fund and fight the campaign.
”We just could not compete with the Labour Party and they just smashed us!“They were really organised this time especially in the centre of the city ““ colour leaflets and telephone campaigning, they knocked the doors en masse and they got their voters out on polling day.
“I don’t know where the BNP go from here, there is no enthusiasm, and we haven’t met since election night.
“Activists aren’t to blame that’s for sure, we have seen a drop in members, some activist have gone off to join other nationalist parties. It’s all down to Nick Griffin.”
This dejected BNP member told of his anger at the way Griffin his running the party.
It appears that if you question the BNP leadership you get an black mark against your name and before you know it you are out of the party.
Griffin is holding on the all the available funds and party activists are left high and dry and are having to fund party expenses themselves.
Many BNP members believe that Griffin his hanging onto the purse strings to fund his, and Andrew Brons’s next European Election campaign.
The Stoke BNP member believes that if Griffin is successful in getting re-elected to the European Parliament then, and only then will he relinquish the chairmanship of the party.
”It’s all down to money with Griffin Tone, He has his entourage to pay for and we believe he employs his wife and his daughter out of his European expenses.“He is doing all right and we are struggling to fight a campaign against the might of the Labour Party machine.
“I just want to serve as I always have, but everything you do is futile without any party funding to help get leaflets delivered.
“I just wonder where all the money has gone, but it’s no good questioning anything either, only the chosen few know the true picture.
“In four years time we will have a general election to fight alongside the local elections. With people getting fed up and moving on you wonder if we will be able to fight either election.
“The morale is at rock bottom in the party. People are asking if there is any point meeting and if there is anything that we as a group can do anyway.
“This city has four years of Labour to contend with and I’m not sure if the BNP has enough to scrutinise from outside the chamber”.
BNP Leader Nick Griffin claimed nearly £300,000 for his first year as a MEP. This has led to accusations about him jumping aboard the gravy train that he and his party were so outspoken about.
He is yet to answer just how much of his income he has donated to the British National Party.
It has been a spectacular fall from grace both in this city and nationally for the BNP.
At the height of their popularity in 2008 they had 55 councillors nationwide and 9 in here in Stoke-on-Trent.
Now in 2011 they have just 12 councillors across the country and here in this city they have been wiped out of the chamber.
The far right party defended 12 council seats across the country but held on to just 2.
With things as bad as the senior Stoke BNP member paints it, you really do wonder if this is the end for the BNP.
Nationalist parties seem to have been rejected unilaterally by the electorate locally and across the country.
In 2010 the England First Party fielded candidates against the BNP in Stoke. In 2011 they had an agreement not to stand against each other. Out of 16 far right candidates fighting the City Council elections, none were successful.
Of 74,321 votes cast in the Stoke-on-Trent local elections, just 3,690 went to “Ëœnationalist’ candidates.
Politics is often like music and fashion trends, something is fashionable and popular only to fade away and then without warning it is back again. The same could be said about the politics of the far right.
Opponents of the far right, organisations like Searchlight, Unite Against Fascism, Hope Not Hate and NorSCARF will not drop their guard.
They know better than most that just because the BNP, England First Party, EDL and the English Democrats have been forced into being dormant, it does not mean that they have gone away altogether.
The problem for far right parties and in particular the BNP, is when their own supporters believe that they are finished it is very difficult for their party leaders to convince them otherwise.
The BNP Roadshow hit Stoke-on-Trent today [Sunday] to launch their local election manifesto.
In a very low key affair, National Media Spokesman Simon Darby, National Organiser Adam Walker and Stoke BNP Leader Michael Coleman addressed a small number of party activists, security and local councillors in Bennett Precinct in Longton town Centre. Continue reading
The BNP will be rolling back into town again on Sunday with the launch of their English Manifesto. This time, Longton hosts the launch. It will be interesting to see if support for the BNP is as diminished as it was in last May’s elections, or whether they have done enough to regroup and revive this time around.
I have never been a fan of the BNP. Being of mixed race myself, I have always been suspicious of their motives. Being accosted by National Front Skinheads as a boy will certainly make you suspicious, if not angry and fearful. However, since working on PnP I have tried to put my personal prejudices aside and report on what I see, as opposed to what I might be feeling due to external influence.
Having met the BNP senior leadership last year, I’d at least had the opportunity to talk and interact with them in a normal way, without having my judgement swayed by what I’d read in the papers.
I really don’t know what the BNP would do to people like me, if they were to ever gain power in a general election. They say that there would be no forced repatriation. They do however say, that ethnic minorities would be offered money to leave the country. Both Nick Griffin and Simon Darby were at pains to point out that this was an old Labour Policy. No one from Labour ever came round to my house asking me to leave and waving a one way ticket to Barbados though.
I ‘ve heard from multiple sources that Stoke BNP has some good councillors. I have also heard that they have got some or had some pretty useless ones too. The results last may showed that the BNP were losing popularity within the city. However, The recession has really begun to bite now, and I’m sure the BNP will be really looking to capitalise on that fact.
Some of the noises the BNP have been making abut Mosques worry me. If an immigrant comes to this country legally, and he/she is a Muslim, then I have no issue with them whatsoever in letting them use their money to purchase buildings to be used as Mosques. So long as there is adequate parking and facilities and that all the proper planning procedures have been followed. Like many though I do have reservations about the addition of Domes and Minarets being added. I’m a Derbyshire lad and grew up in an area where the planning laws were very strict. Driving around Stoke-on-Trent I’m regularly surprised with some of the building alterations that have been allowed. I personally think that Domes and Minarets would change the character of the town. I’ve seen them in Birmingham, and very pretty they are too but im my mind they look out of place because this is Britain. It should be noted though that Britain has many Sikh temples, with Domes and I haven’t heard the BNP moaning about those, the opposite in-fact, regularly claiming Sikhs as allies.
Of course Britain is changing all the time and always has been so perhaps I’m behind step in my thinking? I would challenge any unusual building project though not just ones pertaining to religious buildings.
There will be many who say that they are shocked by my article, and some will say I’m even defending the BNP. I say that they are a political party, a legal party. If we want to be fair, and to live in a fair society then we must allow them to speak. If we don’t like what they say then we all have the option of not voting for them.
That’s why I’m writing this blog, and it’s the same reason I wrote the blog post “The day I met the BNP” . Because I don’t approve of the constant lampooning the mainstream press give the BNP. Last May, the mainstream press pushed past PNP to get at the BNP, yet not a one of the broadsheets or tabloids wrote anything worthy of reading when it came to the policy. That’s just pathetic. If the owners of the papers want to work against the BNP then the fairest way would be to write independent articles that detail policy and lay out their argument against it allowing the public to make up their mind.
Nick Griffin told us that the Press had been involved in smear campaign against the BNP, I’d read that before and didn’t believe it really. Until I read the papers the next day. PitsnPots were the only media outlet that told it as it was. the papers just made daft jokes about the bloke dressed as St George.
When I met with Councillor Steven Batkin last year, regarding the Nazi Salute Photo, he was a pleasant and polite man, we treated each other with dignity. Some of his rhetoric was, in my opinion, incorrect and distasteful, but I allowed him to speak and he allowed me to publish.
Politics has become muddied by spin in the last decade. We need to hear all voices and clearly. Let the people decide what they think of the BNP. Regardless of whether the British National Party are cast aside, or increase their seats, I think politics in Britain will be improved for the greater transparency. One could be forgiven for thinking that the larger parties don’t want any more transparency for the BNP, because it will, sooner or later be demanded of them also.
I have served as a councillor for Bentilee and Townsend for the last three
years and wish to stand in the Bentilee and Ubberley ward following boundary
changes. I have lived in Bentilee for 26 years so I am very well aware of
all the issues that affect local people.
I choose to work full time as a ward councillor, making me very accessible to
the community and able to fulfil both ward and Civic Centre duties. This is
in contrast to some other councillors who have other jobs and cannot devote
as much time to the community.
I serve an important role as local authority representative on the governing
bodies of 3 schools. Due to being a full time councillor, I have been able
as school governor to attend staff appeals, this is very useful for the
schools as not many governors are available during the day for this.
I work very hard with East Bentilee Residents Association which is a growing
group of good people willing to put a lot of their time into the community.
I encourage more people to become involved in these positive efforts.
Recently I was asked to contribute to a fundraising event for the local
family involved in a tragic fire accident. I played my role and helped to
raise over a thousand pounds for the family.
As ward councillor I attend community events and have tried to make
contributions that are important in people’s lives in this area, such as
helping facilitate housing transfers and repairs, arranging fencing for
greens to curb misuse by motorbikes and quad bikes, improving parking areas,
resolving anti-social behaviour issues and approving ward budget
contributions to projects such as the Bentilee Valley tree planting
initiative. Unfortunately due to persistent Labour Party cuts over the years
I am only sometimes successful.
My support is for the long term, not just for election time. For example I
am a supporter of the Willfield centre and the gym and I have visited
occasionally over the years to support users of the centre, particularly the
tap dancing and ballet. I was the only councillor and politician who turned
out to support the Willfield gym campaigners at the demonstration over the
Labour threat of its closure at the Civic Centre on budget day. Labour
falsely claim in leaflets they are campaigning in support of the Willfield
gym. I am opposing Labour who have an appalling track record of making
claims in leaflets that are utterly false. They used this tactic before in
promising a school on the Mitchell site and then breaking their promise.
Labour cannot be trusted!
I am a person of political principle, true to my word and unlike some
councillors will always vote at council meetings in the interest of local
people, in the ward and the city as a whole. I have proved this on many
occasions, for example voting against Labour’s shocking budget cuts and
their support for the bankers. Someone must speak out for what the community
wants. As a BNP councillor I cannot always win the argument if it does turn
out there is a Labour majority, but someone needs to oppose them!
I have worked tirelessly for the local community of the Bucknall and Bentilee
area and welcome the opportunity, if elected, to continue to do so.
Keep local control, not Labour control!
Craig Pond is a Stoke-on-Trent native, a member of the BNP and the Chairman of the Potteries Community Federation.
He is always outspoken, often berated, described by many as offensive, but NEVER ducks a question.
Today [Monday] whilst gauging reaction to the news that the Deputy Chairman of the British National Party [BNP] had resigned, I spoke to Mr Pond.
He gave his views on Simon Darby’s resignation and a whole load of other BNP related topics, including the need for Leader Nick Griffin to go now.
Craig hits out at the effect of immigration on the country and economy. He questions the estimated number of illegals in the country and is fearful at the birth rate among Muslim communities.
During the Audio Interview Craig hit out at the comments made by Stoke BNP Leader Cllr Mike Coleman that ethnic minorities should be allowed to follow the religion of their choice and should be able to retain the cultural identity within their own communities.
If you have not listened to the Mike Coleman interview, there is a link to the relative article in which it is contained.
The Audio Interview is available below and contains strong language and views that some people may find offensive. Please do not listen to the interview if you are at all concerned.
What the interview does highlight is the potential clash between grass root BNP members and those within the party who want to portray their politics in a more progressively moderate way.
The Deputy Leader of the British National Party has resigned with immediate effect.
Simon Darby fought the Stoke-on-Trent Central seat for the far right party at the recent General Election.
He finished a disappointing 4th with just 2502 votes, way behind Labour, Lib Dems and the Conservatives.
The catastrophic performances in the both the Local and General Elections forced BNP Leader Nick Griffin to announce that he is to step down from his role by 2013.
Simon Darby’s decision is seen as a show of loyalty to Griffin and a warning to his potential successors.
He wrote on his blog:
“Quite simply, the post of Deputy Leader has absolutely no constitutional standing, with it being a discretionary appointment being made or not by the duly elected Leader. For anyone to seek to make it an issue in a BNP Leadership election is therefore misguided at best, or insincere at worst.As a result, and wishing to avoid a descent into personality-orientated factionalism, I am going to set an example. I have therefore decided to resign as Deputy Leader of this Party with immediate effect. My purpose in this decision is not only to take this distraction out of the election. Also, if I can endure self-imposed demotion for the greater good of this Party, then I have the moral right to ask that others at least exercise responsibility and restraint.
In particular, that means running a contest that sticks to the real issues, avoids red-herrings such as constitutionally irrelevant positions, and promotes would-be candidates on their own merits rather than setting nationalist brothers and sisters against each other by repeating enemy lies and black propaganda about the current leader and his team.”
He went on to give Nick Griffin this ringing endorsement:
“This Party would be nothing if it wasn’t for Nick Griffin’s total and unreserved commitment to the nationalist cause. It would be a sad, contained creature for contempt and ridicule, rather than the snarling, fighting, in-their-face beast that it is today ““ a constant rebuke and reminder to the Establishment of their treason, betrayal of our people, and the price they will one day have to pay for their crimes.That is why they are trying so hard to destroy the British National Party ““ and the man who, more than any other, has made it what it is, and who remains, in my now humble but still extremely well informed opinion, the only man who can take us forward on the next stage of our epic, just and historic journey.”
He finished his resignation article by formally issuing the following warning to the grass roots BNP membership:
“There is an old saying, “Ëœyou never know what you’ve lost until it’s gone.’ Don’t wake up one morning later this year to find that we’ve lost Nick Griffin and his team, and replaced them with a jostling, squabbling, unstable, untested and indecisive coalition. We elect a Leader to lead, that’s Nick’s job, and he’s the best man to do it.”
Simon Darby’s decision has not only come as a shock to Stoke BNP Leader Cllr Michael Coleman, but as a huge disappointment too.
Cllr Coleman, who is tipped as a possible main player in the BNP at some time in the future, has appealed for the party to move more to the middle ground of politics.
He is calling for the BNP to adopt a strategy which would call for ethnic groups to be left to follow their own culture and religions whilst allowing the indigenous population the freedom to pursue their tradition and lifestyle.
You can hear more from Michael Coleman in the Audio Interview below.
Potential candidates are jockeying for position to take over the national leadership of the British National Party.
The man described as the BNP “ËœElection Guru’ Eddy Butler is mounting a leadership challenge to Nick Griffin this summer.
Butler claims that Griffin cannot combine his duties as an MEP with the effective running of the BNP. He claims the evidence lies in the disastrous election results in May.
His campaign has been boosted with the news that Nick Cass the Yorkshire BNP Organiser has announced that he supports Butler’s campaign and will be his running mate in the election.
Cass has stated that he intends to stand for Deputy Leader, a move that prompted Simon Darby to resign with immediate effect.
Whether Butler and Cass will become the BNP’s new Batman & Robin remains to be seen but reports suggest that the membership want a clear new dynamic direction and as yet they are the only credible alternative.
Their path to the leadership is one full of obstructions however. They are required to obtain the support of 20% of the BNP membership of two years standing.
They are known to have the support of some regions including Yorkshire & Liverpool.